It has been widely reported today that economic growth for the fourth quarter didn’t exactly come in — up, as promised — but the economy shrank. The average forecast among 50 economists surveyed earlier this month was for 1.6% GDP growth, which is not anything to celebrate, but the economy “unexpectedly” declined 0.1%, the first decline since early 2009.

The economy shrank last quarter. The deficit topped $1 trillion last year. U.S. debt shot up $5 trillion over the past four years, and joblessness is at 7.8%. Not only that, but our debt is now 103.8% of our Gross Domestic Product.

So there you go. Nice going, Mr. President. But why were you running around late last year telling everyone how great the economy was doing? Liberals were quick to blame “spending cuts.” Jared Bernstein, a former Obama economic advisor complained the “austerity at [a] time when we need a fiscal push” is the problem. Oh right, another stimulus is just what we need, the others have worked so well. Brilliant!

I don’t know just what cushy jobs all the departing Obama economic advisers have found, but I’m sure they are big money ones. Remind me never to invest in any company they are advising.

Did nobody notice that the moment election results were announced, the Dow Jones Industrials promptly dropped by 300 points? Did nobody notice the massive layoffs by American business in advance of the end of the year? a) it doesn’t matter. b) that’s a lot more people without jobs or c) it’s the Republicans fault?

There are things happening all over the country and all over the world that one might notice. Millions of people are picking up their lives and their businesses and moving out of California to any place with lower taxes and less regulation. Ditto, Illinois. Ditto, New York.

Texas, which has cut back on spending significantly, is a magnet for those departing other states, and Gov. Rick Perry is talking about refunding taxes to the citizens. Republican governors in other states are slashing spending, enacting right-to-work laws, and reforming entitlements, and making at least part of the U.S. economy healthier.

France’s new Socialist president put in a 75% tax rate on the rich, which was promptly overturned by the courts, and he has promised to reinstate. Gerard Depardieu has departed via Belgium for somewhere in a Russian dependency. Former French President Nicolas Sarcozy may move to London. And many wealthy French already have.

Democratic Party communications director Brad Woodhouse tweeted that this was “the best-looking contraction in U.S. GDP you’ll ever see.” Uh huh. Slow to non-existent growth has become the new normal. Joblessness has been over 7% practically forever.

The AP suggests: “…defying expectations for slow growth and possibly providing incentive for more Federal Reserve stimulus.” That has worked so well so far. This is not a learning administration. They only know one song.

In a recent interview NAACP CEO and president, Ben Jealous told the MSNBC host that Black Americans are doing far worse than when President Obama first took office. White people are doing a bit better, Black people are doing far worse. The Labor Department reports that black unemployment was at 12.7 % when President Obama took office. As the employment rate for the nation dropped below 8%, black unemployment increased to 12.9% and then to 14% in December.

The flow of regulation has increased exponentially since Obama began his second term. Big business has found themselves targets of media attacks and government regulations. The combination of big media and big government would make any executive or entrepreneur think long and hard about starting a business or trying to grow.

The United States has 497 billion tons of recoverable coal in the United States — enough to provide electricity for 500 years at current consumption rates — coal has the potential to be an important resource for cheap energy far into the future. President Obama famously promised to bankrupt the coal industry, apparently because of a misunderstanding that the CO2 from coal-fired plants contributes to “global warming.”

Hasn’t been any warming in this century, and may not be any for another 30 -35 years. CO2 has increased in the atmosphere, but there has been no warming. None. Coal-fired generation in the U.S. has decreased from a 48% share of the generation market in 2008 to a 35% share in the first six months of 2012.